Oolite Bulletins

Hi there,

Does anyone know of an OXP that will allow me to view my current target lock's shield and hull status? Or just a simple health bar if it's just all one value.

I'd like an indicator as to whether I'm wasting time on a particular ship as I spent ages emptying energy into a Gecko last night with beam laser ( and I wasn't constantly missing ) and it just wouldn't die and the more time I spent on it the more I felt I should stick with it because "it's got to pop soon!"

The player ship has shield and energy recharge so I suspect the AI ships do too.

I've googled and poured through the managed oxp list but the closest I can find is an CombatMFD which doesn't really show me the info I want.

Thanks in advance

I seem to remember this being discussed before.
I think it fell into the 'best not to know' camp, on the basis that if you could see your opponent's energy/shield strength, then it's only fair that they can see yours, and personally that's not something I'd want!
If I can see theirs but they can't see mine, well that's a bit too cheaty player-centric really.

Then that is my project of my first OXP. I shall work out how it's done. I know my way around Java, Java Script, xml, a bit of C/C++ and Objective C I'm sure I'll manage.

Though my above query still stands.

NewtSoup wrote: ↑Wed Aug 30, 2017 7:20 pm

Then that is my project of my first OXP.

Looking forward to that one!

Hi!
You are looking for DETECTORS.OXP.
https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=15039
You must take into account that this OXP is obsolete.

The default way is to look the exhaust plumes of your target, if it is blinking then energy is low, if blinking faster then very low. CombatMFD print Damaged/Weak in these states.

Detectors display numeric values, including armor if any. You need a HUD with support for Detectors to see the value over your crosshairs, for example the built-in HUDs in HUDSelector OXP. Otherwise you will see numbers attached to the ship names only.

There is a willful inaccuracy in detection, sometimes you will see 0 when the ship is still alive. In this case you need to deliver a few more hits.

Maybe the easiest way to do this one would be a direct core change, which is very simple if you can handle Obj-C. Since you want to make it a project, I am not going to provide the solution right away, just give a hint that you need to look inside src/Core/HeadUpDisplay.m.

This is what it looks like after the change has been applied. The energy percentage updates in real time, reflecting not only hits but also energy banks regeneration with time:


Still, if you hit a wall or just want to save time, give a shout and I'll post the patch to do this (only a few lines long). Good luck and welcome to the Dark Side.

another_commander wrote: ↑Thu Aug 31, 2017 8:18 am

Good luck and welcome to the Dark Side.

<makes mental note to refill cookie jar>

It wasn't my first OXP in the end. Last night I wrote a Mining IFF Scanner Upgrade to colour asteroids, boulders and splinters differently for easier tracking when mining

Also - I didn't realise mining lasers were THAT good in combat!. Better than beams!. 5 shots to kill a Moray Starboat that was stealing all my splinters. I think I don't need to see target damage. Just bigger guns!

NewtSoup wrote: ↑Fri Sep 01, 2017 6:44 pm

Just bigger guns!

Like Laser Cannons?

NewtSoup wrote: ↑Fri Sep 01, 2017 6:44 pm

Also - I didn't realise mining lasers were THAT good in combat!. Better than beams!. 5 shots to kill a Moray Starboat that was stealing all my splinters.

Eh? Something's changed while I was away, then.. they used to be utter rubbish in combat.

Diziet Sma wrote: ↑Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:16 pm

NewtSoup wrote: ↑Fri Sep 01, 2017 6:44 pm

Also - I didn't realise mining lasers were THAT good in combat!. Better than beams!. 5 shots to kill a Moray Starboat that was stealing all my splinters.

Eh? Something's changed while I was away, then.. they used to be utter rubbish in combat.

Mining lasers are weaker than pulse lasers if you compare only damage per second figures (20 dps vs 30 dps), but they have high burst damage: 50 damage per shot/2.5 recharge versus 15/0.5 for the pulse, so in 2.5 seconds you can deal 100 damage with the mining laser versus 90 for the pulse laser (*). Of course, after that time the pulse laser "wins", but for a target already on low shields those extra 10 damage points can mean a sudden demise.

(*) assuming one actually lands all 6 pulse laser shots (versus only 2 for the mining laser).